New tobacco-prevention campaigns aim to reach young people

Smoking rates rising among young people who haven't attended college; health department hopes to change that

By Jeannie Lancaster

For the Reporter-Herald

Posted:
06/10/2016 11:38:46 AM MDT

Updated:
06/14/2016 10:17:41 AM MDT

A new tobacco-prevention campaign from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment offers an "edgier" approach to reach youths and young adults. "To reach them, you must get their attention with humor, shock value and images that feel authentic," said Natalya Verscheure, program manager for tobacco prevention and intervention at CDPHE. (Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment)

Most individuals are aware that tobacco causes or contributes to a number of serious illnesses including cancer, cardiovascular disease and respiratory disease. In spite of that, "Cigarette sales in Colorado have increased for the first time in nearly a decade, reversing a declining sales trend that began after voters increased the tobacco tax in 2004," noted the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE).

Using two new provocative, tobacco-prevention smoking campaigns, CDPHE is hoping to catch the attention of two specific groups of smokers — young adults and youth. Why these two groups specifically?

"Traditionally, our anti-tobacco messages and awareness campaigns have been one-size-fits-all," said Natalya Verscheure, program manager for tobacco prevention and intervention at CDPHE. "These campaigns take a much more targeted approach."

"Smoking rates as a whole have declined over many years," said Jess Harvat, tobacco communication specialist for CDPHE, "but there are still pockets of the population where they haven't declined. We haven't really made a dent in the straight-to-work young adult population, those not going on to college right after high school."

"Smoking rates differ dramatically with educational attainment," noted CDPHE. "Straight-to-work young adults smoke three times the rate of those who go on to some form of schooling after high school."

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"These campaigns are edgier than what we normally produce — not something you would expect from the health department," said Verscheure. "But young people are highly targeted by advertisers, and that means they are extremely savvy media consumers. To reach them, you must get their attention with humor, shock value and images that feel authentic."

"We hope to help impact the community that is still disparately impacted by smoking in Colorado," added Harvat. "We're really proud of this non-traditional approach. It speaks to people in a language that is more authentic."

A new tobacco-prevention campaign from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment takes an "edgy" approach to reach youths and young adults with reasons why tobacco use is unattractive. (Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment)

The first campaign "Enough with the Puff" focuses another group of young adults 18-29, who don't necessarily consider themselves "smokers." They smoke infrequently, usually in social situations. Because they do not identify as smokers, they do not respond to existing anti-tobacco campaigns that emphasize quitting.

Raising awareness about the detrimental effects of even occasional smoking is part of the campaign's focus. One poster responds to a common statement frequently heard from social smokers. "I only smoke when I drink" makes you — drumroll please — an actual smoker!

"With social smokers, we want them to recognize they are actually smokers, understand the negative effects of any tobacco use and quit," said Verscheure. "With youth, we want to keep them from ever starting."

Humor plays a central role in the new digital campaign. Hoping to grab the attention of social smokers, one poster offers, "10 Ways to Say No to Social Cigs." Among them, "1) I don't smoke on days that end in Y. 2) I'm trying to avoid that yellow teeth thing. 3) As appealing as smoker's breath is ... I'll pass."

"Each day in the United States, more than 3,200 youth aged 18 years or younger smoke their first cigarette, and an additional 2,100 youth and young adults become daily cigarette smokers," noted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). "If smoking continues at the current rate among youth in this country, 5.6 million of today's Americans younger than 18 will die early from a smoking-related illness."

The CDPHE's new campaign "Tobacco is Nasty" targets youths aged 13 to 17 by connecting to their social-media-powered world. "You get double the matches if you're not smoking in your profile pics," notes one online message.

The campaign is also not afraid to include a little of the gross to make its impact. "You know the poison they use to preserve dead people? Chew has that too," points out another poster.

One culprit among the rising number of youth smokers is the electronic cigarette. "E-cigarette use among high school students tripled in a single year with past-month use increasing from 4.5 percent in 2013 to 13.4 percent in 2014." The campaign reminds youth that "E-cigarettes are just as addictive as cigarettes," and "Hookahs produce smoke that is just as toxic as cigarettes."

Both the "Enough with the Puff" and "Tobacco is Nasty" campaigns will incorporate public health outreach, and digital and traditional media.

"We at the state level are the only ones using the campaign at this time," said Harvat. "We can test it and evaluate it from there. Eventually, it will roll out to all the health regions across the state."

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